The Bruins will open their 2011 playoff schedule Thursday at the TD Garden against the Canadiens at 7 p.m. Boston will host the first two games of the best-of-seven first-round set, with Game 2 set for Saturday at the Garden at 7 p.m. Montreal will serve as the site for the next two games, as the Canadiens will host Game 3 (April 18 at 7:30 p.m.) and Game 4 (April 21 at 7 p.m.).

If needed, the series will move back to Boston for Game 5, which is scheduled for April 23 at 7 p.m. Montreal would host Game 6 — again, if needed — on April 26 with the time to be determined. If the two teams need to play a Game 7, the game (time also TBD) would be April 27.